Improvement in preparing tobacco



E.`G0'oDw|N.

Improvement in 'Preparing Tobacco.I

N70. 123,011, Patpntedl'anfZC),18725 Y may be employed.

PATENT OFFICE.

EBEN GOODWIN, OF NEW YORK,N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN PREPARING TOBACCO.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 123,011, dated January23, 1872.

Specification of certain Improvements in Preparing Tobacco, invented byEBEN GOOD- WIN, of the city, county, and State of New York.

Nature and Object of the Invention.

The first part of this invention relates to the extraction of a portionof the nicotine and all objectionable foreign odors, and the preparationor partial preparation of the tobacco to be worked; -and consists insubjecting the tobacco to heat in a vacuum or partial vacuum,

'as hereinafter more fully set forth. The sec- Description of theAccompanying Drawing.

The accompanying drawing is a vertical longitudinal section of a portionof an apparatus adapted to carry out my invention, though any otherapparatus adapted to the purpose General Description.

It is well known that in various kinds of tobacco there is an excess ofnicotine for most of the uses to which it is adapted; and it is alsowell known to tobacconists that tobacco is often injured by thetreatment it receives before it reaches the hands of the tobacconist, sothat it often contains unpleasant foreign odors. In the preparation bythe tobacconists of tobacco for chewing, and in the manufacture ofsegars, it is necessary to strip the stem from the leaf, and in the modeof workin g now practiced it is indispensable that the dry leaf shall bemoistened before this operation of stripping can be performed. Toaccomplish this purpose the practice has been to dip the leaf in wateror sprinkle it with water, (which sometimes contains iiavoringsubstances or other desirable additions,) and then to lay the tobacco sodipped in heaps or bulk to soak; or, in other words, to allow the waterto penetrateit sufficiently to soften the leaf so that the stem can bestripped from it. This necessity involves an unequal distribution of themoisture in the leaf, and also involves the necessity of an excess ofmoisture to insure a sufcient dampening of those portions leastdampened. The considerable period of time during which the tobacco hasto be subjected to moisture in the process now generally practiced, asabove described, also causes a considerable oxidation of the extractivematter of the tobacco, thereby ai'ecting it injuriously and reducing itsvalue 5 and the process nowr generally practiced also involves aconsiderable handling, which results in the breaking up of a tender andvaluable portion of the tobacco into what is known as scrap, whichentails a very considerable loss to the manufacturer.

In carrying my invention into effect, I rst put the dry tobacco, as itcornes to the tobacconist, into an air-tight receiver, which may beAconstructed as shown in the drawing, in which A represents suchreceiver, which may be made of a cylindrical form, hung upon thebearings a a, on which it may be revolved; and it may be provided with asteam-jacket, (not shown) by means of which heat may be applied to it,or the heat may be applied in any other desirable manner. This receiveris provided with a man-hole or holes, through which the tobacco may beintroduced, and also has small ledges d d to separate the tobacco andturn it over as the receiver revolves. B represents a central pipe,extending through the entire length of the cylinder A and through bothofthe journals cla, and having stop-cocks b b to close the connection ofeither end of the pipe with the receiver A. Said pipe is also providedwith apertures c c in its sides, connectin g from the inside of saidpipe to the inside of the receiver A. A common air-pump should beconnected to one end of this pipe B, and at the other a reservoir orlarge cup, (l, having double stop-cocks may be attached, for a purposehereinafter explained.

The tobacco to be operated on having been placed in the receiver A andthe man-hole closed, the stop-cock at the end of the receiver oppositethe pump heilig also closed, the air is exhausted or partially exhaustedfrom the receiver A, so as to form therein either an entire or partialvacuum; though a vacuum of seven or eight pounds to the square inch willprobably generally be found sufficient for the purpose7 except' inextreme cases. A very small amount of steam at a low pressure is thenadmitted to slightly moisten the tobacco, and then heat is applied tothe receiver A till the tobacco is heated to about 1509 Fahrenheit, anda slow revolution is given to the receiver A-say from one to tenrevolutions per minute-commencing when the heatis applied. The tobaccobeing thus subjected to heat in a vacuum or partial vacuum, will partwith a portion of its nicotine and with any unpleasant odors which mayhave been contracted in the hands ofthe planter or packer or in trans'-portation, so that after being thus treated it will be entirely sweetand free from unpleasant odors. Of course the length of time duringwhich the tobacco will require to be subjected to heat in the vacuumwill depend much upon the tobacco itself and upon the use for which itis intended; but this part of the treatment should be discontinued assoon as the nicotine in the tobacco is reduced to the desired amount.During the application of the heat and the exhaustion of the air fromthe tobacco thereceiver A should be slowly revolved, so as to turn thetobaccol gently over and expose al1 or it to like treatment; but thisrevolution ofthe receivery should be very slow, so as not to break thetobacco into scrap-say from one to ten revolutions per minute. When theunpleasant odors have been removed from the tobacco and the amount ofnicotine properly reduced, as above described, flavoring or sweetenin gextracts, contained in a proper amount of water to moisten the tobaccosufficiently for working, are admitted from the reservoir C, care beingrst taken to vclose the stop-cock above so as to exclude the air; andthis water and iiavoring or sweetening extracts are ad# mitted to the|.tobacco through the holes c c. A quicker motion is now given to thereceiver A, so as to carry the moisture entirely through the tobacco 5and when this has been done, and the moisture and flavoring extractshave been suficiently distributed, the tobacco may be removed from thereceiver and is ready to be worked. Y

This invention brings with it several important'advantages. It savestime and labor in the treatment of the leaf; there is less handling ofthe tobacco, and, consequently, less loss by the making scrap or shorts;there is less loss in stripping the tobacco, because by this treatmentthe suture between the stalk or stem and body of the leaf is morethoroughly softened, and there is, therefore, less of the leaf takenaway with the stem in the process of stripping, the tobacco is preparedin less time and out of contact with the air, which avoids the oxidationof the extractive matter ofthe leaf which has been heretoforeexperienced. The introduction of superfluous moisture into the leaf isavoided, thus also avoiding the present lengthy process of drying, andinsuring the equal distribution of the proper amount of moisture throughthe leaf at the time it is worked; and the perfect and thor-l oughmanner in which this moisture is by this means made to penetrate everyfiber of the leaf makes it practicable to Awork the tobacco with lessmoisture, the unpleasant odors which the tobacco is liable to haveacquired are removed, andl the flavoring or sweeteningl extracts aremade to thoroughly penetrate every part of the leaf. The benefitsresulting from this treatment to the hands employed in working thetobacco are considerable, aspit saves them from having to endure thepoisonous odor of the nicotine which escapes from thetobacco asvnowtreated, this being carried off, by the air-pump, in the chimney.

Claims.

I claim as my invention- 1. rlhe extraction of the unpleasant odors anda, portion of the nicotine from tobaccoy by subjecting the tobaccoV toheat in vacuum or partial vacuum, substantially as hereinbefore setforth.

2. -In fusing il'avoring or sweetening substances in the tobacco whilein vacuum or partial vacuum, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

EBEN GOODWIN.

Witnesses:

THos. l?. How, I. H. How.

